G-L,

I would want to believe that an Allianace is fundamentally different from a Merger. Alliances have to be
negotiated with all parties compromising. I find the way the YMCA meeting was conducted very immature. It was
doomed to fail from the onset. How can anyone convene a meeting of political parties only to decide who
should be the presidential candidate of the opposition leaving aside all other issues. I would have thought
that agreeing on a presidential candidate should have been the last issue after agreeing on all other issues
like the transition period and the mode of sharing portfolios,  policy issues during the transition, etc. But
no. Here we are convening a meeting just to decide who should be presidential candidate. Wrong approach if
you ask me. Or do we pretend that the parties agree on all other issues except the presidential candidate. If
there is naything the parties agree on it is their desire to get rid of Yaya, full stop.

PDOIS has been accused of not being honest, etc. on the alliance issue. I beg to strongly differ on this.  To
date, as far as i know, PDOIS is the only party among the opposition that tabled a proposal for discussion on
the alliance. It is a well known fact. It was approved at their congress, carried on newspapers and radio.
Infact Halifa explained their alliance agenda on Radio 1's Sunday News Hour on which Darbo was a guest
himself. to date no party has tabled a counter proposal publicly for discussion. This is what i know. Would
it not have been wise for the other parties to respond to their proposal and together thay can set up a
negotiating committee to work out all the details of the alliance. This is the profession thing to do.  But
UDP must have been calculating that as the main opposition, the other parties should just lend them support
to unseat Jammeh. Then what next for the other parties. And i support PDOIS' position that they cannot
support such kind of move. They have a proposal on the table and if the other parties refuse to discuss it
just because it is coming from what they perceive as insignificant party, then PDOIS has the right to pursue
their own agenda. And anyone castigating for it is not fair. And what about the NRP? Or that party is also
insignificant. I see a big hypcrisy here. The big time opposition shot on the L are accusing the APRC of
arrogance and disrespect while at the same displaying such attitude well before getting the mandate to rule
the country. So what do we expect after the alliance wins. Typical "Join me or go away" attitude. I can make
it without you. Arrogance at its best. If the UDP feels they are not happy with PDOIS' proposal, for goodness
sake, let them come out with another proposal and have all the other parties  discuss all proposals and agree
on something.  Arrogant attitudes from people who want to lead a nation really worry me and i have big
problem with it.

On another note, i think the G-L is generally a very hostile forum for the majority of the subscribers. Most
people, including myself, just don't have the time and resources to contribute on a discussion where your
opinion is not respected. How many times have people been labelled  names just because they happen to have
different political opinions. Invectives from the opposition sympatisers to the APRC ones and vice versa. Is
it necessary. I even wonder how you can convince anyone to join your camp if the only strategy you have is
pouring invectives on him. And there have been too much of it here. No wonder you have the same group of
people contributing. There is very little supply of patience and respect of the right to choice. I get
frustrated  with this. Someone says you are fighting dictatorship and you want people to take your idea as
the gospel. If they express a different opinion from yours, you lash them out. To me you are a worse
dictator.


I must go now hoping that the forum will begin to be more civil and accomodating to all views. Lets look at
all the possible options and not restrict ourselves to only two in life.

Regards



Jabou Joh wrote:

> Dampha,
>
> "What about the NRP and PDOIS? I think that this meeting needs to be
> reconvened and all parties invited to participate again. At this meeting,
> everyone should state their view on how this allinace should be forged, and
> concessions have to be made by all to reach a middle ground. Bickering and
> differences should not ruin this possible allinace. Everyone must show
> sincerity in their eforts to include all the opposition parties. Now, if this
> is met with reluctance to participate by some of them, then at least the
> effort would have been made. Without this, any allinace forged will be looked
> upon as less than ideal in terms of making an effort to reach out to all
> concerned. For God's sake, what we need are all of these people to cooperate
> without anihilating anyone in the process. Could it be that this is the
> strategy Jammeh was counting on when he unbanned these parties?
>
> Jabou Joh
>
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